Man gets 90 days for assault in Sarnia shelter dispute

A homeless man charged with an alleged stabbing at a Sarnia shelter has been sentenced to 90 days in jail for assault, but all stabbing-related charges were dropped.

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Drew Reaume, 25, was charged after a man, 51, was stabbed multiple times at the River City Vineyard March 23, Sarnia police said at the time. The man, identified by court records as Mark Chadwick, was taken to hospital about midnight with serious, but not life-threatening, injuries.

Reaume was charged with assault with a weapon, assault causing bodily harm, and failing to comply with a probation order and was held pending a bail hearing, police said.

But the facts agreed to differ from the police account, defense lawyer Terry Brandon pointed out, as Reaume recently pleaded guilty to the lesser included offense of assault and all other charges were dropped.

Court heard Reaume, a recovering addict who’d been sober from fentanyl for about a month, became agitated when another person using the drug kept him awake that night.

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Reaume and Chadwick fought and Reaume struck him multiple times. Chadwick was hurt and taken to hospital, but quickly discharged. Reaume grabbed his stuff and left the shelter, but police intercepted and arrested him, court heard.

Chadwick pushed her client in the chest area amid a verbal confrontation and it could have been seen as a consensual fight, Brandon said, but acknowledged Reaume used excessive force in response.

Assistant Crown attorney Suzanne LaSha added there were challenges taking the case to trial.

Both lawyers suggested the 90-day sentence Justice Lloyd Dean agreed to impose.

The judge also banned Reaume from talking to Chadwick, but permitted them to be in the same shelters or food banks.

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“I actually plan to be in a different city altogether,” Reaume told the judge.

During sentencing, Dean noted Reaume had a prior conviction for assault with a weapon.

In January, Reaume pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including assault while threatening to use a knife, uttering a threat to cause bodily harm, mischief worth less than $5,000, and breaching probation. He also received a 90-day sentence.

In that case, court heard Reaume was sleeping outside Bluewater Church’s Wellington Campus one morning last fall when lead pastor Tim Cressman asked him to leave after noticing a knife on the ground next to him. Reaume stood up, grabbed the knife, held it at his side and threatened him.

Cressman went into the church and shut the door to protect himself. Reaume threatened to break the door down before leaving, court heard.

An agitated Reaume was arrested in the area soon after and threw the knife to the ground. Police also found a box cutter in his coat pocket.

Brandon explained to the judge at the time her client has wellness issues including Asperger’s Syndrome and ADHD.

“He’s not even sure of all his labels,” she said.

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